New Channel Video-on-demand service & Catch-up TV on Tata Sky soon

Direct-to-home satellite television service provider Tata Sky is set to launch two services that none of its competitors is offering in the country, allowing its subscribers to watch content on demand and to download TV shows after they have been broadcast.

Tata Sky aims to double its private recorder base over the next two years following this initiative, says chief executive officer Harit Nagpal.

While the company has a total subscriber base of about eight million, market sources peg the number of those with private recorder at about 400,000.

Video-on-demand (VoD) service, aimed at subscribers of both its regular and high-definition services, will allow users to choose from nearly 1,000 titles comprising Bollywood and foreign flicks, among other content across languages and genres.

Over a million of Tata Sky's subscribers are already paying Rs 15-40 a month for value-added services, which have already been a key differentiator for the service provider.

Catch-up TV, on the other hand, will help subscribers to watch select TV shows after they have been broadcast and that too without recording them because these shows will be available for download.